purge

present singular third person purges · participle present purging · participle past purged · past purged

1. transitiveTo clean thoroughly; to rid of impurities; to cleanse; to clear of (something unwanted).

   After the process, the machine purges the chamber before venting it to remove toxic gases.

2. transitiveTo remove by cleansing; to wash away.
3. transitiveTo free from sin, guilt, or burden.

   Purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 79:9

   1 more example

   We'll join our cares to purge away / Our country’s crimes.

   1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 29

4. intransitivetransitivemedicineTo evacuate (the bowels or the stomach); to defecate or vomit.
5. transitivemedicineTo cause someone to purge; to operate (on somebody) using a cathartic or emetic, or in a similar manner.

   "What did they die of?” I asked. / "Fevers. The doctor came and bled them and purged them, but they still died." / "He bled and purged babies?" / "They were two and three. He said it would break the fever. And it did. But they … they died anyway."

   1979, Octavia Butler, Kindred

6. transitiveTo forcibly remove, for example, from political activity.

   Deng Xiaoping was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution, but managed to return to power after Mao's death.

7. transitiveTo forcibly remove people by an organization.

   Cromwell had Colonel Pride purge Parliament of royalists who opposed Charles I's execution.

   1 more example

   Late triumphs of Russian science are scaring the very dogwater out of large elements in our society, and we both fear more "purging" instead of more effort at catching up.

   1957 October 20, Roy Bedichek, “to John Henry Faulk”, in Letters of Roy Bedichek, Austin, T.X.: University of Texas Press, published 1985, →ISBN, page 507

8. transitivelawTo clear of a charge, suspicion, or imputation.
9. transitiveTo clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor).
10. intransitiveTo become pure, as by clarification.
11. intransitiveTo have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.
12. transitiveTo trim, dress, or prune.
13. transitivedermatologyOf topical skincare: to force underlying acne to rise to the surface in response to ingredients that increase cell turnover, causing a temporary increase in blemishes.

    Differin is purging my skin.

14. intransitivedermatologyOf skin: to undergo the process of purging.

    My skin is purging.

plural purges

1. An act or instance of purging.
2. medicineAn evacuation of the bowels or the stomach; a defecation or vomiting.
3. Something which or someone who purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.

   he prescribes a Purge or a Vomit

   1722, John Arbuthnot, Mr. Maitland’s account of inoculating the small-pox

   1 more example

   At the end of the fourth day he must purify himself by drinking a strong purge made from the segetet tree.

   1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 96

4. A forcible removal of people, for example, from political activity.

   Stalin liked to ensure that his purges were irreversible.

   1 more example

   One of the few surviving Bolsheviks with real power, Mikoyan had been brought to Moscow by Stalin in 1926, had escaped innumerable purges, and had demonstrated an uncanny ability to survive and to associate himself with the right faction at the right time.

   1971, Lyndon Johnson, “"I feel like I have already been here a year"”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 24

5. An act or instance of the cleansing of pipes.
6. A red or reddish liquid that seeps out from raw muscular meat consisting mostly of water and protein; "meat juice".

   Synonyms: weep

7. The temporarily worsening of acne due to the introduction of skincare products that increase cell turnover, bringing underlying blemishes to the surface more quickly.
8. slangA period of time in which normal rules supposedly do not apply; especially, a time for violence and gang war.

   "Halloween must remain a celebration, the purge is not a joke, the purge is a threat," Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told reporters on Thursday.

   2018 November 1, “French police arrest over 100 after Halloween 'purge' night riots”, in Yahoo! News

   2 more examples

   The incident stemmed from a flier that circulated widely among city school students via social media about a “purge” to take place at 3 p.m., starting at Mondawmin Mall and ending downtown.

   2015 April 29, Adam Johnson, “Media’s Baltimore ‘Teen Purge’ Narrative Falling Apart”, in FAIR

   Instead, One Night Only weirdly plays like lulling government propaganda, a film about sex purge to be released in time for sex purge that says that actually maybe sex purge is a good idea after all.

   2026 August 6, Benjamin Lee, “One Night Only review – sex is legal for 12 hours a year in bizarre romcom”, in The Guardian